-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- While most people can appreciate the grace and athleticism of ballet , dressage -- the precision art of horse riding and training -- remains a puzzling spectacle to all but a few .

A new performance by the International Equestrian Federation -LRB- FEI -RRB- aims to show that these two art forms are not so different .

For the launch of the flagship FEI World Cup Finals in Lyon , France the organizing body assembled the finest talent from the worlds of elite riding and ballet to show off their skills side by side .

`` They 're very similar in terms of athletic ability ; they 're very delicate but they 're very powerful , '' said U.S. Jumping rider Charlie Jacobs , who joined dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin and dancers from the Minsk Bolshoi for the photoshoot .

Double Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin was just as impressed with her partnership with Belarusian maestro Kanstantsin Geronik -- calling it an `` exciting '' prelude to the competition in which she once again shattered world records .

The FEI 's Director of Dressage , Trond Asmyr , says the organizers hoped to create a comparison to ballet which would open up the esoteric world to outsiders . He believes the parallels go beyond the athletes ' physical abilities .

`` You see a number of different elements in there . You need strength . You need power . You need elegance , '' he said .

`` You need a feeling for what you 're doing : it 's not only a question of jumping as far as you can or as long as you can or as high as you can -- it 's this combination of putting all these elements together to produce the optimal performance . ''

He was pleased with how much the riders got out of the day . He called Dujardin `` a full-blown artist herself '' but says seeing her perform alongside Geronik highlighted the virtuosos ' similarities .

The real test , he says , is to close your eyes and listen to the music . In either sport , you can imagine how the performer -LRB- or performer plus horse -RRB- could glide across the space .

Dujardin , the World number one Dressage rider , who took the dressage crown in Lyon , has been labeled `` the girl with the dancing horse , '' but was enthused to see her horse-less dancing counterparts in action .

The evening after the photoshoot , organizers FEI took the riders to see the dancers on their own turf -- at the Lyon Amphitheatre where the Bolshoi performed Swan Lake as part of a nationwide French tour .

Asmyr says Dujardin told him she saw dance with `` new eyes . '' He now has high hopes for developing the cross-cultural collaboration further in future .

`` Ballet is certainly more well known around the world than dressage riding , so if we can facilitate an understanding from people about our sport , through the similarities with ballet , then we 're very happy about that . ''

Read more : Globetrotting : The world 's most traveled horse

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What happens when the worlds of dressage and ballet collide ?

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New performance aims to highlight similarities between the two disciplines

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`` You need strength . You need power . You need elegance '' says FEI dressage chief

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Organizers hope to develop more cross-cultural collaboration in future